“What was Ukraine’s experience under the Russian rule? Looking at it through non-human actors can bring striking insights into the tsarist society’s racial stereotypes and their legacies.on how imperial Russia came to believe that animals passed on their qualities to humans. 1/”
As promised, I'm sharing my master's thesis on Ukrainian perspectives of Russian colonialism. But I should offer a caveat— in many ways, it is a response to russophilic area studies departments. It's not a full exploration of the topic, although I would love to continue it.
7/20 It can't be more symbolic than that. In 1907, tsarist diplomacy vowed to "respect independence of Persia." In 2 years, Russian troops invaded Iran to crack down on the revolution. As one Tehran-based tsarist clerk noted, "to respect (its sovereignty) does not mean to support it."